The Healing Bond: Exploring Animal-Assisted Therapy in Eating Disorder Recovery

Home for Balance is excited to share that Carolina Gaviria, LMHC, NCC, CEDS-C, was part of iaedp Voices – The Healing Bond, a podcast conversation exploring the role of animal-assisted therapy in eating disorder treatment and recovery support.

Animal-assisted therapy is a complementary intervention, and its research is growing. While it does not replace evidence-based eating disorder treatment, medical monitoring, nutrition rehabilitation, family support, or trauma-informed therapy, animal-assisted interventions may offer something deeply meaningful: a pathway into safety, connection, embodiment, and emotion regulation.

Why the Human-Animal Bond Matters in Mental Health Treatment

Many people struggling with eating disorders also experience anxiety, shame, trauma, social disconnection, body distrust, and difficulty feeling safe in relationships. For some clients, traditional talk therapy can feel overwhelming, especially when conversations involve food, weight, the body, or painful and traumatic life experiences.

Animal-assisted therapy may help soften those difficult internal feelings and experiences and offer a nonjudgmental presence that helps clients feel less evaluated and more emotionally safe to go deeper. In this way, the animal becomes more than a comforting presence. It can serve as a bridge to deeper and meaningful therapeutic work.

Although the research on this subject is at it's beginning stages and limited, a qualitative systematic review by Shen and colleagues found that animal-assisted interventions may help foster feelings of normalcy, increase behavioral activation, enhance self-esteem, provide companionship and belonging, offer calming and comforting experiences, and creating positive distraction from pain, stress, or illness, also distracting them in a positive way from eating disorder thoughts. One of the strongest themes across the studies was the importance of physical contact, companionship, and connection. The authors emphasized that the healing power seemed to come less from the animal’s appearance and more from the live interaction and felt relationship with the animal (Shen et al., 2018).

What the Research Says About Animal-Assisted Therapy and Eating Disorders

Another study revealed that animal-assisted therapy in eating disorder treatment can be a positive support when used as a complement to traditional care. The review included 10 studies and noted potential benefits related to emotional expression, social connection, motivation, anxiety reduction, and treatment engagement, although more rigorous research is needed to establish efficacy better and understand mechanisms of change (Fennig et al., 2022).

More recent research has explored specific animal-assisted approaches with adolescents, and it was found that dog-assisted therapy may help reduce anxiety in eating disorders when compared to standard care. The study also reported improvements in areas such as interpersonal distrust and maturity fears or the fear of growing up, suggesting that animal-assisted work may support both emotional regulation and relational safety, which are key factors of maturity (Núñez et al., 2025).

Equine-assisted therapy may also offer unique benefits for adolescents with anorexia nervosa since it was found that themes related to emotional, bodily, and relational issues improved because horses may help clients practice attunement, boundaries, presence, care, and embodiment in a way that does not center on appearance, weight, or food (Lepy et al., 2025).

The research is promising but still developing. Many studies have small samples, qualitative designs, limited control groups, and inconsistent intervention protocols. Therefore, animal-assisted therapy should be presented as a complementary intervention within a multidisciplinary eating disorder treatment plan, not as a stand-alone treatment.

The Trauma Connection

Trauma is common among many individuals seeking eating disorder treatment, and animal-assisted interventions may be particularly helpful because trauma impacts the nervous system, the body, and the capacity to feel safe, self-regulate, and trust relationships. More specifically, animal-assisted interventions have been associated with reductions in PTSD symptoms and depression and anxiety, because animals support grounding, a sense of safety, provide emotional comfort, and connection.

For clients with trauma histories, an animal may offer a safe relational experience before the client is ready to talk directly about painful memories. Petting a dog, walking with an animal, grooming a horse, or simply sitting near a calm animal can help the body experience the present moment differently: “I am here. I am safe. I am not alone.”

Clinical Reflections from Carolina

From Carolina’s perspective as an eating disorder clinician, one of the most powerful aspects of animal-assisted therapy is its ability to support connection where the eating disorder has created isolation and detachment. Eating disorders often disconnect people from their bodies, emotions, relationships, values, and sense of self, filling them with anxiety and separation. However, animals can gently interrupt that disconnection and invite presence, softness, movement, care, and connection without focusing on weight, appearance, diagnosis, or performance. They are free to be themselves and accepted and loved unconditionally. This positive experience can support repairing trust and a sense of belonging, calmness, and hope, which are key aspects of recovery.

Although animal-assisted therapy programs are still in development and not accessible for everyone, we can't dismiss the value of having a pet, which can also become a gentle anchor for mindfulness and grounding. Clients can practice noticing the warmth of the animal’s body, the rhythm of its breathing, the texture of its fur, or the sound of its movements as a way to return to the present moment. This kind of mindful connection can help regulate the nervous system, interrupt anxious or eating disorder thoughts, and create a felt sense of safety, companionship, and peace, helping the person have less anxiety before, during, and after melas.

Eating disorders are disorders of disconnection. They often disconnect individuals from their bodies, emotions, relationships, values, and sense of self. Animals can gently interrupt that disconnection and invite presence, softness, movement, care, and connection without focusing on weight, appearance, diagnosis, or performance in recovery. For many clients, the animal’s presence can help reduce anxiety and increase engagement. For other clients who have embraced caring for dogs, volunteering in animal shelters, or pet sitting has helped them have a sense of purpose and connection because caring for an animal can also help restore self-esteem and give one's life some meaning. A client who feels like a burden may begin to experience themselves as needed, capable, and connected. In eating disorder recovery, this matters a lot. Healing is not only cognitive. It is also relational, sensory, emotional, and embodied.

Lessons Clinicians Can Apply Even Without Animal-Assisted Programs

Not every clinician has access to a formal animal-assisted therapy program. However, the research offers lessons that can be applied in any therapeutic setting and used as an adjunct to the work that the client is doing in therapy. This can be done through mindfulness exercises and play, helping them practice grounding and connecting with a sense of vulnerability and responsibility.

Animal-assisted therapy reminds us that healing does not always begin with insight. Sometimes healing begins with felt experience: feeling safe, feeling calm, feeling needed, feeling connected, or feeling that life can be bigger than the illness and that connection has more to offer than the promises of the eating disorder.

Healing begins in the quiet space where words are not required, trust is felt, and the body slowly remembers what safety can feel like.

At Home for Balance, we believe eating disorder treatment must be compassionate, individualized, trauma-informed, and grounded in connection. Animal-assisted therapy is not a replacement for evidence-based care, but it may become an increasingly valuable adjunct in eating disorder treatment, transitional recovery support, trauma work, body image healing, and relapse prevention.

As the research grows, animal-assisted interventions invite us to think more deeply about what helps clients heal: not only symptom reduction, but also safety, trust, embodiment, belonging, and reconnection with life.

We are honored that Carolina was invited by iaedp Voices – The Healing Bond to discuss the research, clinical applications, and healing potential of the human-animal bond in eating disorder recovery.

Stay tuned for more details about the podcast episode on our social media!

At Home For Balance, we meet you where you are. You don't have to do this alone. We are committed to guiding individuals toward full recovery from anxiety, depression, eating disorders, OCD, trauma, and substance use. Our multidisciplinary team brings expertise across a range of evidence-based approaches.

By integrating personalized treatment plans with a holistic focus on mind, body, and emotional well-being, we create a supportive environment that fosters lasting change. We offer individual therapy, EMDR therapy, special programs, and intensive services. Whether you are taking your first steps toward recovery or seeking ongoing support, our mission is to provide the care, tools, and encouragement you need to restore balance and build a healthier, more fulfilling life. We believe in full recovery!

To learn more about our services or to schedule your FREE 30-minute consultation, contact us at info@homeforbalance.com or call 561.600.1424 today.

Healing does not always happen through words. Sometimes it begins in the gentle comfort of a pet, and the feeling of being loved and accepted exactly as we are and where we are at.

References:

Fennig, M. W., Weber, E., Santos, B., Fitzsimmons-Craft, E. E., & Wilfley, D. E. (2022). Animal-assisted therapy in eating disorder treatment: A systematic review. Eating Behaviors, 47, 101673. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9770014/

Hediger, K., Wagner, J., Künzi, P., Haefeli, A., Theis, F., Grob, C., Pauli, E., & Gerger, H. (2021). Effectiveness of animal-assisted interventions for children and adults with post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms: A systematic review and meta-analysis. European Journal of Psychotraumatology, 12(1), 1879713. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8330800/

Lepy, C., Letranchant, A., Aniorte, J. L., Bedos, J., Hotchkin, R., Corcos, M., Robin, M., & Piot, M. A. (2025). Equine therapy in the management of teenagers with anorexia nervosa: A qualitative study. Eating and Weight Disorders, 30(1), 66. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12357790/

Núñez, B. M., Sánchez, J. F., Pérez, A. M. L., Rincón, L. L., García, M. F., García, I. G., Berna, M. G., & Mateo, D. C. (2025). Effects of dog-assisted therapy in anxiety symptoms of female adolescents with eating disorders: A controlled trial. Actas Españolas de Psiquiatría, 53(6), 1265–1273. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12728540/

Shen, R. Z. Z., Xiong, P., Chou, U. I., & Hall, B. J. (2018). “We need them as much as they need us”: A systematic review of the qualitative evidence for possible mechanisms of effectiveness of animal-assisted intervention (AAI). Complementary Therapies in Medicine, 41, 203–207.